“We had planned to attack and everything went smoothly,” he said. “I know the course well, as the same roads are used as in the Tour of the Mediterranean and the Tour du Haut-Var, and it suits me well.”

A 10-rider breakaway had built up a three-and-a-half minute lead after splitting from the peloton at the 60km mark of the 191km stage.

The final one of this group, Slovakia’s Martin Velits, was hauled back 30km from the end by the Spanish trio of Contador, Colom and Sanchez, the latter biding his time before pulling clear.

Sanchez, 25, now stands 1:09min clear of Chavanel in the overall standings, with Contador, last year’s Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España winner, at 1:50min.

Contador cleared up the question mark over his lack of power in the closing kilometers, blaming a misjudged dietary approach.

“It wasn’t an easy race to control and I had put a lot of effort in early on,” Contador said. “The pace was very fast right from the start and I forgot to eat and drink correctly. My body just had nothing left and my sole aim was to get across the line.”

Sunday will likely see riders attacking the 8th and final stage, a 119km run which starts in the mountains north of Nice.